Merry Christmas to you and yours. To celebrate the holidays we got four people to explain what Christmas means to them. Find below their answers:
Georgette Monnou:
Christmas at Mine
At four o’ clock in the morning…
“Have you gotten the blend ready?” I ask Nadine, my sister. There is something about the way she mixes the tomato blend for stew and jollof that is just parfait.
She looks at me and says “yes,” as she swiftly takes off the blenders’ cover, and adds the tomato blend to the fiery hot oil. The stew begins to bubble, and stage one of two meals is already under way.
Simultaneously, as the food is being prepared, Santa’s reindeer, (my sister and her friends) are sorting out the final touches. They make sure the glasses and crockery we washed the night before are easily accessible to our guests, the music and speakers are set up, chairs are laid out, and the main dining table is prepped, ready for the food.
Mrs. Claus’ COO (me), comes out every once in a while to make sure that the final preparations are perfect. Mrs. Claus (my mother) is upstairs getting ready and finalizing any extra food that we have ordered.
Flash forward to seven hours later; the kitchen is a mélange of aromas. Roast Turkey is ready, perfectly caramelised, with roasted potatoes and vegetables to finish. Homemade cranberry sauce has been re-warmed as it was made the night before. The once tomato blend has turned into delicious Jollof Rice and Chicken Stew. Okro soup, a family favourite is also ready with a selection of either Ijebu or Yellow Garri as an accompagnement. My family famous millionaire shortbread, banana bread and Nadine’s homemade cookies are ready to satisfy many in the family with a sweet tooth.
Thirty minutes later, the waiters arrive with the remaining food we have ordered: goat pepper soup, efo riro, edikaikong, roast ham and several other extras.
The guests start to arrive at two o clock in the afternoon, starting with our family. Our close family friends and other guests join them a little while later. Already, conversation is flowing. I pop into the dining room to lay the food out. Over the next few hours, people are laughing ecstatically.
Santa’s reindeer have the music on lock and before you know it, the family is dancing to Shoki and Skelewu.
Christmas at my house is a day of celebration! The fact that we can all be together as a family on that day is a blessing. A sumptuous meal and amazing music is a bonus!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Oyindamola Adefisayo:
For many people, Christmas is a time of gifts, decorations, parties and a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. For me, Christmas is this but more importantly a time to be with my family. Ever since I’ve lived majorly outside Nigeria, my favorite time of the year was going back to Nigeria in December for the holidays. Some people didn’t understand it. Why choose to go back in December for only 2 weeks when you can go back during the summer for at least 2 months? Three reasons. One. I love to travel during the summer. Two. Nigeria is too ridiculously hot in summer. But three is the most important. Nigeria is where my entire family is during the Christmas break and where all the joy is. It’s not the food, not the parties (although those can be fun) and not the gifts. It’s the love. I know that is super cliché but bear with me. You haven’t heard my mother’s perfect impersonations. You haven’t heard my sister’s super sunny and bubbly voice. You haven’t felt my brother’s sloppy wet forehead kisses. You haven’t seen my dad waiting eagerly for lunch. Christmas is the one time of the year that I feel the most enveloped by love. And not just from my immediate family but from my extended family and my friends. This year, for the first time, I don’t get to go back. But I don’t worry. Why? Because I know that my family loves me just as much when I’m far as I am near. And so it’s always Christmas for me.
Oyin Egbeyemi: My Christmas Transition
In the 21st century, meaning of Christmas has expanded far beyond the boundaries of the Christian religious practice.
As much as the religious aspect of the Christmas festivities still remains a significant piece of our culture in Nigeria, sometimes the last two weeks of the year in Lagos remind me very much of the Spring Break celebrations University students in the United States indulge in…but of course, with a very Nigerian twist to it. I cannot deny the feeling of anxious anticipation the Christmas festivities in Lagos bring forward. Whether I like it or not, I always end up going with the flow. And nowadays, it is almost inevitable, as the decorations lit up at Falomo Roundabout and Ajose Adeogun Street are so bright, you cannot help but tap into that energy.
I have evolved through different phases of behavior during this period in Lagos:
Whilst at university, my preparations for Christmas started with an epic diet. With the determination to look awesome for every occasion during the holiday, I went on a very intense diet and daily workout routine for two weeks straight leading up to the day of my departure from London to Lagos as if I was #TrainingLikeAnAngel for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. This was extremely important to me then because even the flight itself was a social occasion during which I would very likely run into peers I had not seen in many years and it was imperative that when I ran into these people, they would give their friends a detailed feedback report of how nice I looked since the previous time they saw me. After arriving at Lagos, I would then coordinate my social calendar with my friends, and then beg my mum’s driver, Mr. J, to spare quite a significant amount of his personal time to take us out. At that stage in my life, it was all about making as many appearances as possible over the span of two weeks in order to be recognized by old classmates.
By my early twenties, my Christmas agenda went through a slight transition. Appearance was still very much relevant, but the purpose for this tilted from impressing my old classmates to getting more attention from men. As this was the period during which I had first moved back to Lagos, and I had all sorts of uncles and aunties asking questions about my non-existent boyfriend, I was forced to go on an inevitable hunt. The last two weeks in December were marked specially as HUNTING SEASON! It just made a lot of sense as this was a period of time when those who lived abroad returned for the holidays and everyone, including those resident in Lagos socialised more frequently. Besides, I had many friends who had successfully taken home a big catch during this season. (Some of whom are married now). So it was simple logic…or so I thought. My “going out” strategy changed as I carried out my research and due diligence to target specific events where I knew there would be an abundance of cute, “marriage material”, men. Unfortunately for me, my hunting skills were not sufficiently tactful to bring a man back home.
Then came my mid-twenties, and yet another transition with my Christmas agenda. With what I believe is maturity, I see Christmas now as a season to spend quality time with my family and close friends. Of course I still go out, but this time the only agenda is to be with these people. If I happen to run into an old classmate, fine…If I happen to meet a potential date, great.
I lost my grandma suddenly last year, and have since come to realize that life is too short for the unnecessary hustle we put ourselves through and there is really no need for the undue pressure for superficial things such as appearance. So it is imperative to focus on the moments and people who really matter, and then everything else is secondary. Christmas should be a time for reflection and expression of gratitude for life and everything the year brought forward and most of all (as a Christian), thanksgiving for Jesus Christ.
Oluwamayowa Idowu: Talking to a friend earlier this week, he went into great detail about how a lot of our lives and the memories attached to them are built around certain things which might seem insignificant to other people. As a child, I looked forward to Christmas because it meant I would be receiving a box of Enid Blyton books I hadn’t read from my parents. With my new books by my side, I would get in bed and stay there till I was done. When I share that with people, they tend to follow by making the predictable joke about having a “sad childhood”. Those Enid Blyton books stimulated my imagination, soothed my vocabulary and gave me a healthy reading habit. In that sense, Christmas as a child signified literary progression. As a side note, Enid Blyton is one of my childhood heroes so you can imagine how upset I was some years back when someone suggested she was racist on Twitter for the lack of ethnic representation in her work. (Do you agree?)
Today, if you asked me what Christmas meant to me I would first of all go on a rant about the peculiarities of ageing. These days, I don’t expect to receive Christmas gifts. There’s more of an onus on my part to give out as I’m no longer the little kid but the big brother who gets taunted and teased about getting married soon. Telling my aunties that they and their daughters are more likely to cross that bridge sooner than me falls on deaf ears. Those envelopes with money that my Grandpa used to dish out don’t come again. I get a gift the odd year but my younger cousins tend to receive all the adulation now.
Christmas is spent with my maternal grandfather whilst New Year’s Day is for my paternal side. Earlier this month (on the 15th) my Uncle Tunde passed away. Christmas Day last year was the last time I saw him. My Grandfather being my last surviving grandparent means that I try to savor every Christmas knowing it could be his last. Last year, we discussed the significance of law cases (I particularly remember being shocked that he could remember Bligh v Brent) I had been assessed at school on. As we eat, pray, laugh and take to the streets to take part in Fireworks wars I am reminded that Christmas is truly the season of love. With my family in tow, I see that love comes in different shapes, sizes and forms. In summary, Christmas means love and family.